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Iowa caucus: Rivals seek to rally right against Mitt Romney

Romney's position is strong in New Hampshire, but more shaky in South Carolina. | Reuters

In a fundraising email to supporters before the final Iowa votes were even tallied, the Pennsylvanian warned that if the party’s base didn’t come together in support of a single candidate, they’d repeat 2008.

“We can either unite now behind one candidate and have a conservative standard bearer in 2012, or have the GOP establishment choose another moderate Republican who will have a difficult time defeating Barack Obama in November,” wrote Santorum.

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With Santorum and Gingrich indicating that they’ll both compete this week in New Hampshire, the conservative vote could be divided.

“Santorum and Newt split the social conservatives,” New Hampshire GOP strategist Pat Griffin predicted. “This will be ugly, but I still think it is Mitt’s to lose.”

Perry’s likely withdrawal is good news for Santorum because it means the Texas governor likely won’t be camped out in South Carolina for the next three weeks, wooing conservatives.

But Gingrich isn’t going anywhere.

His aides began making the case for why conservatives should coalesce around the former speaker.

“This is a national race, not a local dance,” said Gingrich senior adviser Kevin Kellems. “Newt Gingrich is a national candidate who has remained at or near the top of virtually all national polls — as well as in South Carolina and Florida.”

Of course, those surveys are now outdated and will look very different following Gingrich’s fourth-place finish here and the scrutiny that helped prompt his collapse over the past month.

But Kellems said they had no plans to go after Santorum, who appears to have the best claim now as the Romney alternative.

For conservatives, the best-case scenario would be a repeat of 1996 — when the attacks of one conservative on the establishment favorite helped another insurgent.

“If Newt goes negative on Romney in New Hampshire on the stump, that would help Santorum the same way [Steve] Forbes’ constant attacks on Dole in ’96 helped [Pat] Buchanan,” said Greg Mueller, a conservative PR executive who worked for Buchanan.

But Dole ultimately won that race, of course, and Romney remains the GOP’s man to beat this year.

Still, his weaknesses were on vivid display in Iowa.

For the second consecutive campaign, he was lured into the caucuses and underperformed. His finish this year was certainly better than the thumping he took at the hands of Mike Huckabee four years ago. But that he could only take a quarter of the GOP’s votes here and barely outnosed a candidate who drove around the state in a pickup truck underlined how fractured the Republican coalition is at the moment.

As the entrance polls here revealed, evangelicals and lower-income voters still have a difficult time accepting their party’s wealthy Mormon front-runner. That’s not to say they won’t support him against a president they despise. But even if he rebounds in New Hampshire, where he leads every poll by double digits, he’s going to face an intense fight in South Carolina — another state he competed in four years ago only to be disappointed.

Readers' Comments (516)

"“Those others who are still in the race will divide a lot of the vote and I think Romney will only grow from here,” said the congressman."....................................Pretty well sums it up. The net effect of all this wrangling will be to drag Romney to the right to capture the nomination. Romney will beat Obama.

Libbers, listen to me please. Listen closely. Mitt Romney will not be the nominee of the Republican party!!!! I know you libbers would like nothing better than to see the battle of the libbers, Romney vs. Obysmal. The problem with that is the children of America deserve better; they deserve a real conservative that will fight for their future, for their survival. Whether it be Bachmann, Gingrich, or Santorum, trust me, it won't be Romney.

The Iowa caucuses: a very few of the people have spoken… It makes me queasy to think that the TV talking heads are off and running with their lead story about "Romney takes the lead for GOP nomination," based on the ballots cast last night by about ONE-HUNDREDTH OF ONE PERCENT of Americans who are old enough to vote. This ain't no shining moment in a display of how U.S. politics and representative democracy ideally are supposed to work. More of my comments here:http://barleyliterate.blogspot... />

The Iowa caucuses: a very few of the people have spoken… It makes me queasy to think that the TV talking heads are off and running with their lead story about "Romney takes the lead for GOP nomination," based on the ballots cast last night by about ONE-HUNDREDTH OF ONE PERCENT of Americans who are old enough to vote. This ain't no shining moment in a display of how U.S. politics and representative democracy ideally are supposed to work. More of my comments here:http://barleyliterate.blogspot... />

rsubber: "This ain't no shining moment in a display of how U.S. politics and representative democracy ideally are supposed to work."......................But it's better than the last three years of Obama and the left. If you're queasy now, imagine how bad you're going to feel next November.

The guys that wrote this article can downplay the importance of this win all they want, but in the end Mitt Romney scored a huge vicotry by winning the Iowa caucus. Romney has been polling behind the other candidates in Iowa for months, and to pull out the victory in this state really demonstrates his strengh as a candidate.

If the authors are so hung up on the margin of victory in these early contests, then I emplore them to wait a mere six days when New Hampsire votes... I guarantee that Romney beats Santorum by about 20 points.

Listen to what is said about the republican candidates over the next couple of weeks, and remember these are fellow republicans saying these things. They know each other best and have the inside track. Will the real hypocrite please stand up. (Everybody rises) One good thing about all this White Noise is that it keeps the FAILED Republican Controlled House off the front page.

Libbers, listen to me please. Listen closely. Mitt Romney will not be the nominee of the Republican party!!!! I know you libbers would like nothing better than to see the battle of the libbers, Romney vs. Obysmal. The problem with that is the children of America deserve better; they deserve a real conservative that will fight for their future, for their survival. Whether it be Bachmann, Gingrich, or Santorum, trust me, it won't be Romney

I feel your pain. I'm a rabid fiscal conservative and, consequently, a supporter of the TP. Nevertheless, I wish wingers of all persuasions could make a political calculation minus the emotionalism. It is a game and Romney will most probably win it. You will very likely vote for him because the alternative of four more years of Obama unrestrained by re-election considerations is just too awful to contemplate.

DES MOINES — Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses Tuesday night over runner-up Rick Santorum by a margin so small he could count it on his fingers, the culmination of a months-long heartland slog in which he was never subject to a sustained assault by his more conservative rivals.

spin it however you like- romney tied with santorum and the both come away with the same number of delegates ELEVEN.

Mr Romney has 23 % of the votes that's the same if not less than in 2008, since 2006 his numbers have not changed. Most conservatives will not lend their vote to Mr Romney. If conservatives wanted to vote for a liberal they would vote for Mr Obama not Mr Romney.

The GOP candidate for President won by eight votes? That's no mandate and Romney knows what a mandate looks like. Romney beat a racist homophobe by eight votes? The GOP party is as broken and dysfunctional as their Congressional record.

Independent Moderate: " It is a game and Romney will most probably win it. You will very likely vote for him because the alternative of four more years of Obama unrestrained by re-election considerations is just too awful to contemplate. "........................The GOP has a penchant for shooting itself in the foot, but Obama doesn't have a leg to stand on. Most will vote against Obama and for a growing economy.